[Granite]

Hi,

I'm planning on making a smoking pipe using epoxy. But I've got a question: does epoxy liberate some harmful substance when heated? If so, what other material do you propose for me to use instead?

Thank you.

[Mr Peanut]

Yes, epoxy (and tobacco) can give off some bad stuff when you heat it. (burl and corncobs are the conventional material)

[PolymerKnowHow]

I wouldn't recommend building a pipe out of epoxy. Besides the suggestions above, glass seems the most obvious choice. Know a good glass blower?

[Mr Peanut]

Fact is, smoking anything - from a pipe of any material - has its risks.

[Granite]

Know a good glass blower?

No. Know any easy way of making glass?

burl and corncobs

Corncobs? Are you sure? Hum... I don't know what 'burl' means. Sorry, English isn't my native language.

One more thing: what exactly is the said substance liberated from epoxy? What exactly does it cause? Just curious.

[nj_bartel]

A plethora of carcinogenic, toxic oxides of carbon and carbon compounds, e.g. carbon monoxide, benzene, etc.  Whether they're more or less dangerous than the myriad of carcinogenic, toxic chemicals released from smoking tobacco, I can't say 

[Mr Peanut]

Corncobs (Google corncob pipe) are used commercially by Missouri Meerschaum to make cheap pipes. Burl is hardwood from a area in the tree where there is a knot.

A few of the possible chemicals from smoking from a epoxy-based pipe include residual cyclic ethers (typically diglycidyl ether of bisphenol A), curatives (often amines), low MW oligomers, and the pyrolyzates of the above.

Yes, chemicals from tobacco may be worse. Also, chemicals from anything else you might want to smoke (peyote buttons, mushrooms, crack, etc.)

[Granite]

It's not for tobacco. It's for marijuana. 

Thanks, dudes.

[nj_bartel]

Pot left black lesions in the brains of monkeys who smoked it frequently, enjoy 

[Mr Peanut]

Haven't heard yet of anyone who, on their dying bed, said "I wish I spent more time getting high."

[macman104]

Haven't heard yet of anyone who, on their dying bed, said "I wish I spent more time getting high."

Pot left black lesions in the brains of monkeys who smoked it frequently, enjoy 

Can we not let this turn into a discussion about whether you should or shouldn't smoke marijuana?  That said, Granite, pipes really aren't expensive, why don't you just buy one, and not worry about what your going to inhale from your own homemade pipe.

[Borek]

This discussion doesn't look promising. Don't be surprised if the thread will get locked.

Being an occasional smoker I woud never use epoxy pipe. I can be wrong, but it just doesn't sound right to me.

[limpet chicken]

'Pot left black lesions in the brains of monkeys who smoked it frequently, enjoy'

I have read over time, chronic smokers have been shown to have smaller hippocampi on an MRI, but moderate use or even short term heavy use, memory seems to return to baseline after its washed out of the system.

Lesions? do show me some studies stating that? its not something known for neurotoxicity.
There have been quite a few studies IIRC showing cannabinoids are actually neuroprotective, I'm guessing by dampening down the activity of glutamatergic transmission and decreasing possible excitotoxicity by that method but I am not sure.

I don't think pot is going to cause lesions anywhere by a long stretch though, of note, is the drug brought out for weight loss, and very quickly recalled by the FDA, rimonabant (accomplia), it was the first commercially marketed CB1 inverse agonist, and it was found that it actually increased the frequency of some really nasty neurodegenerative diseases, which to me lends credence to the fact that it is neuroprotective, as opposed to neurotoxic (THC, not rimonabant)

I'm curious to know if anandamide and 2-arachidonylglycerol, the endogenous ligands at CB1 are partial or full agonists, THC is a partial agonist at CB1/CB2, which makes me wonder if that is what is responsible for the decrease in hippocampus size, and what histological changes are present, as a known full agonist at CB1, a hydroxylated derivative of d-9-THC with a 1,1-dimethylheptyl sidechain where the alkyl sidechain of THC is, known as HU-210 has been shown to increase hippocampal neurogenesis.

Down side its it is extremely potent and long lasting, also there is no safety net provided by not being able to overshoot a certain ceiling effect that the partial agonists have, which would presumably make it possible to overdose and it end up in a lot more severe effects if you did, than having a possible panic attack, stuffing your face with sweet food and going to bed.

I really wouldn't smoke from an epoxy pipe though, or any plastic that wasn't specifically known to be very heat resistant, I just tried heating some epoxy resin that was stuck to a discarded stick hanging around here from the last time I used any, and it melts very rapidly and burns (and stinks something awful)

Definaltey not something you should be trying to smoke from, I find even metal pipes ruin the taste of the herb (and they get damn hot damn quick)

Glass, stone or nontoxic hardwood is the only option imo for a good pipe.
Glass pipes are definately the best, and they are easier to clean out when they get gunked up, and they will do, mine gets some pretty nasty looking gunge baked onto the inside after a night, and can be conveniently cleaned out very well with base bath (KOH in EtOH/MeOH with a little water to help soluabilise the hydroxide, careful, this stuff will burn you pretty badly if you get it over you)

Glass pipes can be had cheaply too, mine only cost me 6 UKP, and its served me well for at least 5 years.

[nj_bartel]

 http://www.wireheading.com/intracran/cannabis.html

That's the study I was referencing - draw your own conclusions of it's validity